Oceanography

Hydrology

is the study of the waters of the earth their several states and the diverse paths that link together the oceans, atmospheric moisture and surface and groundwater in the continents.

Hydrologic sciences:

Include the several fields of study concerned with the waters of the earth, including the occurrence, circulation, distribution, and properties of the waters and their interaction with the environment.

Oceanography:

is the study of the earth's oceans and their interlinked ecosystems , geological, chemical and physical processes.

Major Subdivisions of Oceanography Geological oceanography the study of geologic processes in the oceans (plate tectonics, coastal morphology) It is concerned with the floor and shores of the oceans and includes submarine topography, geological structure, erosion, and sedimentation

Major Subdivisions of Oceanography Chemical oceanography the study of the chemistry of the oceans Chemical properties of seawater, of the cause and effect of the variation of these properties

Major Subdivisions of Oceanography Biological oceanography the study of the flora and fauna of the oceans Also called marine biology

Major Subdivisions of Oceanography Physical oceanography the study of the physical attributes of the oceans It is concerned with energy transmission through the ocean water Wave formation, temperature-salinity structure, waves, tides, currents

The Hemispheres of the Earth Northern Hemisphere is approximately 61% is water and 39% is land, thus it is called the "Land Hemisphere". The Southern Hemisphere is approximately 81% is water and 19% is land, thus it is called the "Water Hemisphere".

Water resources
1. Marine water

Water resources
2. Subsurface water

Salinas hot spring

Boiling geyser in Tagaytay

Aquifier

Water resources
3. Fresh water

http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/01intro/tomeas.htm

Specialized instruments for oceanographic research

1. Water sampling bottles - containers which are attached to the cable and lowered into the water.

2. Deep-sea thermometers - use to measure temperatures in ocean depths.

Specialized instruments for oceanographic research

Thermometer

This model records the information inside and is retrieved however there are expendable models (XBTs) that free fall on a copper line and transmit the temperature and depth information through the copper wire before dropping to the bottom

Specialized instruments for oceanographic research

3. Bottom sampler - are used to take samples of materials from the sea floor.

4. Current meter - use to determine the speed and direction of ocean currents

Specialized instruments for oceanographic research

5. Deep sea cameras - used to observe the structure of the ocean floor and evidence of life

Specialized instruments for oceanographic research

6. Sonic depth recorders - measure depth continuously and accurately from a moving ship

Specialized instruments for oceanographic research

Sonar
Sound Navigation And Ranging. is a system that uses transmitted and reflected underwater sound waves to detect and locate submerged objects or measure the distances underwater. Invented in WWI to hunt submarines. Sound is bounced off the ocean floor to find the depth. The closer the bottom is, to quicker the echo returns.

Echo Sounding Used for Mapping Ocean Floor

Ocean Floor Mapping with Sonar

Studying the Ocean Floor

Seeing by Sonar Scientists use sonar to determine the oceans depth.
Oceanography via Satellite Scientists use images from the satellite Seasat to study ocean currents. Studying the Ocean with Geosat Scientists use the Geosat satellite to measure slight changes in the height

Revealing the Ocean Floor

Regions of the Ocean Floor The two regions of the ocean floor are the continental margin and the deep-ocean basin. Underwater Real Estate The continental margin and the deep-ocean basin are subdivided into different areas and have different features, as shown on the next two slides.

Ocean floor
The ocean floor profile begins where the water meets the land at the shore line. The shore line is very unstable in that it changes with each coming wave and the changes with the tides. The continental shelf extends out from the shore line may be a few hundred feet to two hundred miles in width depending on the continent. The continental shelf extends out until it reaches around six hundred feet in depth, at which point light usually completely fades out depending on the water clarity.

The Ocean Floor

Seamount

The Ocean Floor

Continental Shelf
Gently sloping, shallow part of ocean floor that extends outward from the continent. Varies from a few kilometers to over 1300-km from shore. Provides nutrient rich home to large numbers of fish.

Continental Slope
Steeply slanting portion after the shelf. Bottom marks the edge of the continental crust.

Turbidity Currents
Rapid moving currents that carry large amounts of sediments. Similar to landslides on land. Often cut canyons in the continental slope.

Continental Rise
Gentle slope at base of continental slope formed by accumulation of sediments that wash down.

Abyssal Plain
Smooth parts of the deep ocean floor. Covered with fine grained muddy sediments (silt). Cover large areas of the ocean floor.
Mid-ocean ridge

Mid-ocean Ridge
Divergent boundary underwater, where new crust is being formed from magma deep in the mantle. Form underwater mountain ranges that seldom break the surface. Can be 1000s of km wide, and over 80,000-km long. Passes through all the Earths oceans.

The mid-ocean ridge

is an area of divergents in plate tectonics were the tectonic plates are splitting apart and new ocean floor is being created.

Seamount
Underwater volcanoes. If they reach the surface they form islands.

Volcanic Island
These once underwater volcanoes grow so large they break the surface of the ocean.

Deep Sea Trenches

Deepest part of the ocean. Many kilometers deeper than the surrounding abyssal plain. Very long (1000s of km), but fairly narrow (100-km across). Place where old crust is being subducted back into the mantle.

Ocean trenches
are created when two tectonic plates collide and the denser plate is pushed under the lighter plate creating an ocean trench. Oceanic trenches are the deepest features in the ocean and they can reach a depth of -6.97 miles.

Guyot
Once the island is eroded and it slips underwater it becomes a guyot. It is a table top underwater mountain.

Zones of Ocean Depth

http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00116/mesopelagic.htm

bathypelagic zone

Zones of Ocean Depth

1. Hadalpelagic zone The deepest ocean zone that goes from 19,686 feet to 32,810 feet (10,000 m) This depth is only found in deep ocean trenches. Even in these cold, dark places there are animals; like starfish and worms that survive.

Zones of Ocean Depth

2. Abyssopelagic zone is also known as the abyssal zone, or the abyss, and ranges from 4000 meters (13,124 feet) to 6000 meters (19,686 feet). name from a Greek word meaning no bottom. The water temperature is so cold that it is near freezing, and there is no light at all.

Zones of Ocean Depth

Very few creatures can be found in these freezing, no light, and bone crushing depths. Most of these creatures are invertebrates, animals without a backbone, such as basket stars and tiny squids. This zone has about three fourths of the ocean floor in it

Zones of Ocean Depth

3. bathypelagic zone
is also known as the midnight zone

Bathypelagic zone
The upper limit of this zone:100 to 700 meters (330 to 2300 ft) below the ocean surface. It coincides with a sea water temperature of 10 Celsius (C). The lower limit: at a depth between 2000 to 4000 m (6600 to 13,200 ft) where the ocean temperature is 4C.

Bathypelagic zone
Virtually no sunlight penetrates into the ocean at these depths. As such, the animals that live here are bioluminescent. Animals living in the bathypelagic zone also tend to have a poor ability to swim.

Zones of Ocean Depth

4. Mesopelagic Zone
The mesopelagic zone is also called the twilight zone. Though some sunlight penetrates through this zone there is not enough for photosynthesis to occur and plants to grow.

Zones of Ocean Depth

5. Epipelagic Zone The surface layer of the ocean is known as the epipelagic zone and extends from the surface to 200 meters (656 feet).

Zones of Ocean Depth

It is also known as the sunlight zone because this is where most of the visible light exists. With the light come heat. This heat is responsible for the wide range of temperatures that occur in this zone.

Characteristics of Ocean Water

Dissolved Gases Nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are the main gases dissolved in ocean water. Solids Sodium chloride, or table salt, is the most abundant dissolved solid in the ocean. Other solids are also found in ocean water. Ocean water is 3.5% salt.

What is Ocean Water Composed of?

Characteristics of Ocean Water, continued

Salinity is a measure of the amount of dissolved solids in a given amount of liquid.
Changes in Salinity Climate and water movement affect salinity. Costal water in cool, humid places has a low salinity. Slowmoving bodies of water have higher salinity than other parts of the ocean do.

Ocean Salinity

Salinity varies in different parts of the ocean because of variations in evaporation, circulation, and freshwater inflow.

*Cl-, Na+, SO4--, Mg++, Ca++, and K++ are principle ions present in seawater. *Salinity varies in oceans based on: the amount of freshwater added to the system or the amount of evaporation that takes place. If much evaporation occurs, the water is more saline because water is evaporating faster than freshwater is added. Thus, more salts are left over. *Conversely, the more freshwater added to the system, the less the salinity is. Where do the salts come from? 1. Weathering of rocks/minerals and salts introduced into streams that feed into the oceans. The total quantity of this is on the order of 2.5 billion tons annually. 2. Minerals and salts are also derived from volcanic eruptions, known as outgassing from Earth's interior. We know this is true because certain elements (Cl, Br, S, B) are more abundant in oceans than in Earth's crust. Many speculate that outgassing is responsible for our oceans' formation. 3. Hard parts of marine organisms. (i.e., shell material)

Characteristics of Ocean Water, continued

Surface Temperature Changes Surfacezone temperatures vary with latitude and the time of year.
Surface temperatures range from 1C near the poles to about 24 C near the equator. The surface zone is heated more in the summer.

The Ocean and the Water Cycle

The water cycle is the continuous movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.
The ocean is an important part of the water cycle because nearly all of Earths water is in the ocean.

A Global Thermostat
The ocean regulates atmospheric temperatures. A Thermal Exchange The ocean absorbs and releases thermal energy much more slowly than dry land does. The circulation of warm water causes some coastal lands to have warmer climates than they would have with the currents. Ocean currents moderate the temperature of the planet by carrying warm water from the equator to the poles.

The Gulf Stream moderates the climate of Northern Europe, making England and

Oceans and Pressure

As you increase depth the pressure increases. Increases at a rate of 10 times the air pressure at sea level per 100 meters of depth. Humans can safely dive to about 40 meters. Modern submarines can safely dive to only about 600 meters (0.6-km). The average ocean depth is 3.8-km.

Oceans and Sunlight

Sunlight will barely reach 150-m deep into the ocean. Below this it is always dark as night. Since plankton need sunlight, most sea life will be in this first 150 meters.

Resources from Oceans and Seawater: *Some resources that humans currently use from seawater are: 1. sea salt (halite), 2. magnesium (a light metal used in the making of light bulbs), 3. bromine (gasoline additives/fireproofing materials).
A great deal of these products in the U.S. come from the Great Salt Lake in Utah, but other countries not having access to the Great Salt Lake, still use the oceans for their resources. *Humans also desalinate seawater to get fresh water. This process is time-consuming, expensive and is not currently economically feasible. Many desalinization plants operate, but few are productive on a commercial scale.

*Gold from our oceans? Yes, gold is present is very low concentrations, but not economic enough to actually "mine" for profit. Many tons of water and sediment would have to be processed in order to get a single ounce of gold. Our Layered Oceans: *Temperature and salinity vary with depth in our oceans, thus the oceans tend to take on a layered effect. Three general layers are present, except in Polar Regions where only one or two layers are present because of coldness: 1. Shallow surface mixed zone (2%): warmest from solar energy, mixed by waves, 1500 feet thick and 70-80 degrees, most saline. 2. Transition zone (18%): includes thermocline, which is point of great drop-off in temperature to ~39 degrees below 5000 feet and halocline, which is point of salinity drop-off, which roughly corresponds to the thermocline. 3. Deep zone (80%): just slightly above or below freezing. Not very saline.

Our Layered Oceans

Surface mixing zone is warmest; saltiest near bottom of zone. Transitional zone contains thermocline and halocline. Deep zone is 2 tons per square inch and coldest in temperature.

Deep Ocean Currents: *In general, deep ocean currents are driven by:
1. 2. gravity and density differences.

*Two factors are important in creating a dense mass of moving water: 1. Temperature 2. Salinity *Colder and salty water is denser than warmer, less salty water. Thus, deep ocean circulation is referred to as thermohaline circulation. Here's how thermohaline circulation works: Cooler water at the surface (due to heat loss to the atmosphere) becomes saltier (due to much evaporation) and becomes denser, thus it sinks to the bottom. As it sinks it replaces lighter less dense water, which moves back to the zone where the denser water formed. So, cold dense waters flow away from their sources at the poles and are replaced by warmer waters from the lower latitudes. It takes many years, possibly centuries for the dense, saline waters to migrate to the coastlines where upwelling may occur.

Deep Ocean Currents